Hello everyone! So I decided to post an update on my fish, Prada. I know a few of you were helping me figure out what was wrong with him.

Turns out he had an internal infection. Most probably micro bacterium, as someone told me on here. It described every single one of his symptoms. The poor thing probably won't make it... :( I suspect he was already infected from the pet store, or maybe caught it from another fish. I honestly don't know. All I know is he was fine for about a week or so and then it was downhill from there.
Currently, I am trying to keep him as comfortable as possible, as I have already tried everything I could to treat him. Nothing has really helped him make a full turnaround, and I feel that if I continue putting him through medications and salts, he would just be much to stressed.

However, after Christmas break, my boyfriend decided to be a sweetheart and took me to get another betta since I was kind of sad about losing Prada. My newest boy is a red veiltail that I've named Mooshoo, after the little crazy dragon from Mulan. He is in a (brand new, as to not take a chance with him catching what Prada had) 2.5 gl unfiltered corner tank with a heater. He's so cute and silly! He'll be exploring his tank, but as soon as I come in the room, or he sees me approaching his tank, he'll rush over to greet me and do his little food dance. I've been training him to follow my finger, which I lead him to a pellet once he's done his little tricks.

I feed him 4 Omega One Betta Buffet pellets a day. And do weekly 100% water changes. I use Prime water conditioner and acclimate him by floating his holding container for about 10-15 minutes. And his tank runs at about 77 degrees (I think, all I have right now is a strip thermometer bc I'm scared to use Pradas old one).

Soo I just wanted to update everyone on mine and my fishes status'. And thank you sooooo much to everyone who helped! You all have taught me so much as to betta keeping, and I continue to learn. So, on that note, feel free to leave me any tips as to what I can do to improve Mooshoo's environment if there is something you guys would recommend. :) I can't really think of anything else I could do... Especially since he is doing so well so far. It's been about 2 weeks since I brought him home from Petco. I was very weary on bringing him home since he didn't seem to be too find of me when he was in his cup... Lol
But my boyfriend saw him and was like "that one." and after going to THREE different pet stores, I felt bad if I didn't get one since he took all that time just to find me a new companion. Lol

Anyways, I'm so glad I brought him home and saved him from that dirty cup! :)
And sorry for the super long post... Lol

Soo here is Mooshoo!

Question: how would I go about disinfecting Prada's old silk plants and cave decoration? I'm so scared to use bleach, but scared to simply boil it.

I am so sorry to hear about Prada but Mooshoo is beautiful. It sounds as though you are taking good care of him but if you wanted to improve anything I would say add a filter as it will help to keep water quality up to scratch. I use simple box filters for my bettas, they are a bit unsightly but they suit bettas best because you can adjust the airflow (bettas do not like strong currents in the water because their large/heavy fins weigh them down and they are not the best swimmers).

Most fish related diseases cannot survive out of water for long periods of time so I would sit all of Pradas things out in the sun for a week to really let them dry out and heat up from the sun. A good idea is to sit the tank etc on a black plastic garbage bag in the sun. The black plastic will really attract the heat and make the tank and assesories scolding hot which will help with sterilization. I would steer clear of chemicals such as bleach.

It's really up to you on whether or not you continue to use old equipment. What kind of thermometer did you use for Prada (Peel and stick type, in-tank suction cup type, something els?). Personally I would just purchase a new in-tank suction cup type as it will be most accurate while submerged in the water for very little cost ($2 - $4).

Also, lots of people sterilize aquarium equipment with bleach including myself. Typically for aquarium equipment such as nets, thermometers, decor you should use a 10% bleach solution. I have a small bucket that I use one cup of bleach in and 9 cups of tap water. That ends up being 1 part bleach for every ten parts total, which creates 10% solution :)

Then you just rinse really well in hot water and bingo, sterile equipment. Its worked well for me with no problems yet but again, a new thermometer is just so cheap and easy.

Thanks y'all! Yeah, I think I'll just get a new thermometer. The one I used with Prada was an in-tank suction cup. But like you said, it's so cheap I'll just get a new one.

So I can do the 10% solution with the silk plants and the small cave decoration? Then rinse over and over?

I don't have much access to a private area with sun, though :/
If I left it on the lawn in front of the dorms they'd probably toss it...
Would leaving it out do the same trick? Or does it have to be actual sublight?

Oh! And thanks for the filter suggestion! I may get one down the road. The tank he has now came with one, but I'm afraid to use it since Prada hated the one in his old tank... (the tanks are completely separate, I didn't want to take any chances) but I'll look into the adjustable flow ones

Well.. about Prada.. last I talked to you about a month ago, you hadn't even found a med that works on internal infections.. Your fish was dealing with chronic constipation, freezing temperatures, and inappropriate water issues, which led to an internal/GI infection..spitting up food, mucusy stool, etc.. It didn't look or sound anything like this disease that everyone's become so paranoid about..Sorry it wasn't that at all. He needed to be warmed up, increased water changes from what you were doing, stable water (RO was bad, remember?) and either medicated feed or an internal antibiotic. What meds did you end up using that's not working? What changes did you make to the water based on what we talked about?

The 2.5g will need two water changes a week - one 50% and one 100% including a gravel rinse.

I did find the medications, his water was cold, yes, due to the long car ride where no electricity is available inside the vehicle and for first couple of days at my parent's house. His water temps have been in the 78 degree range, other than that. The only time he was in "improper water conditions" is when he was at my parents house for my Christmas break, which of course I had no choice of staying. He was on RO for only 2 days, with water conditioner/balancer, since I am aware that it is bad. Other than that he was on special "betta water" for the remainder of the break.

I know some people choose to go the "fight til the death" route, but in my personal opinion I'd rather him not be under medications until his last breath. Investing so much money, knowing he has slim to no chances of making a complete turnaround, is not a wise decision for a poor college kid who gets paid minimum wage for 4 measly hours a week, if you can feel my pain.

And, IMO, since I am the one who has been observing him, what he has does sound like that disease.

Thank you for your help, though. I've learned much from this experience.

And the reason I say it may be from the pet store is because my friend's fish, which we got at the same exact time, is suffering from very similar issues, if not identical. (side note: she, however, didn't take him on a car ride)

Or Prada could have gotten it from my friend's fish, since ignorant little me shared nets with him, knowing he was sickly...

Also, the constipation was not due to cold temperatures. He became constipated and stopped eating before I went to my parent's house. And while he was in my dorm, his water was in high 70s.

For this reason is why I believe it was caused by something other than the stressful car ride. Of course it didn't help, but what else was I to do? Leave him here for a week+ unattended?

Well.. I don't want to argue, but I will reiterate strongly that his symptoms and appearance didn't indicate the "panic disease" at all. I know you're doing your best but when you first posted you thought he also had ick, which he was also not showing any symptoms of. GI infection following long term constipation is not a symptom of what you have decided to diagnose with now either. I'm not sure why you think his condition is caused by this (other than BB running around saying every symptom is the "panic disease"), but nothing you posted in his last thread indicated this in the lightest. In the case of chronic constipation turned into gi infection, complete turn around was very likely.. almost certain with correct medication and treatment. Which medication did you use?

It's been a month now.. so hard to know where he's at now of course.. if you don't want to try to treat anymore, that's your call, but just want to make sure you're fully educated on this, and understand than constipation turning into GI infection is not a symptom.